Do not stay home. That is a pretty typical response from someone in Illinois even though you want to hunt on public land that is open to all of us through the use of OUR tax dollars. The locals complain about the non-residents, but if you look around some of the service roads in the Shawnee you will see them littered with garbage. I guess they think that I drove all the way from Pennsylvania to get rid of my old easy chair and fridge! Enough of that. I have hunted the Shawnee National Forest in the past and you won't run into heavy hunting pressure during archery season. There were many times that my buddy and I had literally thousands of acres to ourselves. We saw some gigantic deer, but we weren't good or lucky enough to take one of these monsters. But, they are there! Good luck and let me know if I can assist you further. Jimmymac